English

Abstract

BACKGROUND Since March 2020, after coronavirus outbreak and nationwide lockdown, medical education in India has experienced a major disruptive change. Measures to prevent the spread of infection and hence to ensure social distancing have led to the closure of medical colleges and starting of online teaching. This study was planned with a purpose to investigate and assess the experience of medical teachers of SHKM, Government Medical College, Mewat, Haryana towards online teaching during COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS This was a cross-sectional, self-administered, questionnaire-based survey in which data about their experience with online teaching was gathered by interviewing fifty Medical Educators of SHKM, GMC, Mewat, Haryana. As a part of questionnaire validation process, we invited six faculty members to pilot-test the initial draft and it was modified based on their feedback. Survey was done from July 2020 to Dec 2020. RESULTS Majority of the faculty were happy with the starting of online lectures. Maximum faculty were conversant with the use of online apps, had all the equipment required for making and taking online lectures, felt that taking online lectures was not as comfortable as classroom lectures, found it convenient to use laptop / mobiles / tablets for lectures, faced network problems, technical glitches while taking their online lectures, could complete the online lecture within the prescribed time limit, did not tend to spend more time on social sites while preparing for online lectures ; used multimedia, gave electronic study material to their students, did not feel comfortable, while interacting and asking questions, experienced few students leaving classes in between and joining back again only while marking attendance, experienced few students hesitating to reply to questions asked and gave excuses about technical faults. CONCLUSIONS Educators can help document and analyse the effects of current changes to learn and apply new principles and practices to the future. KEYWORDS COVID-19, Online Teaching, Medical Faculty